


Eleven Eleven

by hajimemashita



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Alternate Universe - College/University, Childhood Friends, F/M, Fast Cars, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Heavy Angst, Heavy Drinking, Illegal Activities, Interns & Internships, Racing, Sex, Slow Burn, Smut, Street Racing, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:28:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29389848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hajimemashita/pseuds/hajimemashita
Summary: Since you're the new underclassman and student intern in the office, Iwaizumi Hajime takes on the responsibility to help you out in more ways than you can imagine. But when your childhood friend Kyotani Kentaro pays you a visit, an unresolved past conflict between the two surfaces, pulling you into the high-risk life of Japan's underground street scene. However, adrenaline-filled high-speed chases may lead to disastrous outcomes. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Reader, Iwaizumi Hajime/You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

You took a deep breath. Crisp, cold air filled your lungs, slightly burning as your hand shakily rested on the worn silver doorknob in front of you. Vision blurry and light-headed, you tried to regain your composure.

_ Ba-dum. _

_ Ba-dum. _

_ Ba-dum. _

You knew what to expect from this job, but to think that you made it this far had you feeling lightheaded. As you begged your heartbeat to slow and the immense pressure in your head diminished, you took in another shaky breath, this time slower and careful. Your eyes moved to the metallic-blue plate on the wall next to the door, whispering aloud the words that were plastered across the plaque.

_ ATHLETIC TRAINER OFFICE _

You entered the room, briskly walking to the front counter and asked the young male if the athletic trainer was in today. He seemed disinterested in your presence, busily filling out the injury sheet before you with his head slightly tilted to the side, the angle of his mandible resting on his palm. Clad in the familiar-looking black uniform shirt that matched the one you were wearing, his left arm was wrapped snugly in a matching black sleeve that traveled under his shirt, unlike his right arm which remained bare. 

"Which one?" he asked, not looking up from his paperwork behind the counter.

"Ukai Keishin," you answered, eagerly looking down at the paperwork he was scribbling on. "Um, I'm the new student intern under him."

He stopped writing for a bit, still avoiding your eyes, to roll his chair across the hardwood floor to the opposite side of the long desk to flip through a binder. He lazily trailed the tip of his pencil across the sheet, stopping to finally look at you for the first time.

"You're Y/N?" he asked, dark green eyes finally darting to meet yours. You nodded as he groaned and stretched back in frustration, his hands clasping behind his neck as he slumped into his chair. "Ukai must've forgotten you were coming today. He even marked it in his schedule, but he left early."

"Oh," you sighed, visibly upset. "Should I just come back tomorrow?"

Noticing your distress, he pondered your question for a moment and clicked his tongue. "Since you were supposed to start today, I can at least show you around the office," he proposed, the last phrase sounding more as a question.

You eagerly nodded, "Yeah, that'd be great!"

A light laugh escaped his lips as he slowly stood up from his chair, amused by your enthusiasm; it was refreshing to see a bit of life in the dull office. Only when he stood up did you realize how much taller he was than you. The seats behind the counter must've been insanely low. He must've been six feet--no, a little less that six feet tall but still towering over you nonetheless. It didn't help that his overall appearance just seemed...unsettling. His appearance was rigid, and you could tell he was a naturally rough person. His hair was dark brown, the shade that nearly every natural brunet had, yet marking a tasteful contrast against his sage-green eyes. Not only was he on the taller side, but it was clear that he had something to hide under that sleeve of his: a tattoo or scar, but nonetheless a mark that was meant to remain hidden. 

After shuffling around in his bag, his fingers settled onto a rectangular packaging, fiddling with the foiling to pop a piece of white square of gum into his mouth. 

Starting the tour, he first acquainted you with the area he was sitting in: the reception area. Frankly, it was a total mess: piles of papers littered the desks and surfaces behind the counter, dusty bookshelves full of files and records, and two rickety office chairs sat next to each other. 

As he walked you around the rest of the office, he tried to engage in some simple conversation, probably to ease the silence that had settled between you two. 

"Are you a student?" He asked, chewing his gum behind closed lips.

"Yeah, I'm in my third year, what about you?" you questioned, immediately fumbling over your words, "I mean, are you still in school or did you graduate?"

He smiled, surprised but grateful for your thoughtfulness. "I'm in my last year, but I'm an intern like you are." He paused a bit, running his hands through his dark hair, "I'm under Ukai, too; he picked me up last year like you."

Eyebrows slightly raised in interest, you questioned him again, "What's it like to work under him? Is he nice?"

"You haven't met him yet?" he asked, scoffing. "Didn't he interview you?"

You shook your head in response. "No, a different trainer interviewed me," you explained. 

He crossed his tanned arms over his seemingly muscular chest, the half-size-too-tight black polo shirt straining a bit over his features. He settled his shoulder onto the wall near a door, still facing you. His jaw slowly clenched occasionally, working the piece of gum between his teeth.

"He's a great guy, really chill, but sometimes he's really forgetful. Obviously," he chuckled, gesturing to you. "He's pretty young, but he really does care about his interns," his smile faltered a bit as he paused, intense dark green eyes staring downward into yours for just a second longer than you were comfortable with. His head tilted down ever so slightly, probably in an attempt to close the large distance between you to avoid anyone hearing. In a soft, almost concerning voice just above a whisper, he spoke his piece of advice, "Just don't do anything stupid. He's kicked interns out before."

You felt a warmth envelop your head at the close proximity to him, his eyes boring into you so deep as if he could see through you. The faintest smell of cinnamon and what you could only assume was his cologne permeated the air between you two. You quickly looked away toward the rest of the room. Iwaizumi must have read your nervous reactions because he pulled away from you quickly. 

"Are you okay? You seem a little on edge."

"Oh, no, I mean," you stammered, thinking of a decent excuse, "I was just thinking about how school just started up again and it kind of gets me really stressed, you know? Especially with this internship and everything."

He nodded, looking up at the ceiling, "Yeah, it gets a little stressful sometimes, but I'm sure you'll do fine." After you didn't respond, he glanced over at you again to still see the same nervous expression on your face. 

He pitied you a little, remembering his experience as a new intern. "Look, if you want to blow off some steam or whatever, my friend is having a smallish get-together before he leaves for Argentina. You should swing by if you want," he paused, gauging your reaction. "You could bring some friends if you'd like, but just keep it small."

Before you had a chance to answer to his offer, he pushed himself off from the wall and nodded his head toward the door. Following behind him through the long corridor, you considered the choice he gave you. Before you even reached the main waiting room, you decided you definitely needed some stress-relief, even if that meant going to an absolute stranger's farewell party.

Once he reached the end of the corridor, he slipped behind the counter again, momentarily crouching behind the short desk while he scribbled something down, peeling the layer of paper from the rest of the notepad. "The address," he announced, standing again and handing the note to you between two fingers, "it's actually tonight." The corners of his lips flicked upward to form a closed smile, one that was offered out of politeness and curiosity.

_ A Monday night?  _

"I'll think about it," you stated as you grabbed the bright green note from his hand, "but what was your name again?" He stopped and looked at you, eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, I didn't introduce myself? Sorry about that, I'm Iwaizumi Hajime," He forced out a laugh at his brashness, extending a hand for you to shake, which you gladly accepted. His hand was larger and rougher--cold from the freezing office--yet his grasp was gentle. Your eyes trailed around the now empty waiting room and then to the digital clock on the wall.

6:27 PM

"Oh my gosh, it's so late," you squeaked, drawing your hand away quickly and pulling out your phone to see a mountain of text messages, "I'm so sorry, but is there anything else you wanted to show me? I'm supposed to meet some friends for dinner." 

He yawned and stretched a bit, shaking his head. "Nah, that's about it. I'm sure you'll learn the rest of it with Ukai when you come in again," he explained as he started ushering you toward the door.

"Did you need any help doing anything else, like locking up?" You questioned, surprised at his abruptness to get you out the door.

"No, it's fine, I can lock up by myself. It was great meeting you, Y/N, I'll see you around," he offered a sheepish smile before softly securing the door in front of your face. 

"Thanks for the tour, Iwaizumi!" you called, raising your voice slightly in hopes he could hear it past the door. You stood in the entryway to the office, waiting for a response from him.

_ Click _ .

Sighing and walking away toward the building's exit, you stuffed the green paper into the back pocket of your jeans and pulled out your phone to scroll through messages to reply to the mountain of texts. Suddenly, buzzing surged through your phone and you hesitantly accepted it, just to be met with a hushed, agitated tone instructing you to rush over to the dining hall immediately.

"I'm coming, hold on," you breathed out, picking up your walking pace and promptly ending the call. The distance to the dining hall was short enough, but he's been sitting there since 6. Guiltily, you started to jog your way over to where you saw him sitting at a table, dressed in another one of his impossibly comfortable-looking sweaters, tufts of dark hair framing his face and black glasses perched on his nose before blue eyes.

"Where were you?" Akaashi inquired, eyeing you down and raising an eyebrow at your disheveled, slightly sweaty appearance. He closed his laptop and started clearing the space in front of him for you to set your things down.

"Sorry, my intern thing ran long," you apologized, plopping down with an exasperated huff as you attempted to fix your appearance. He slid a large bowl across the table, stopping it in front of you and gestured for you to start eating. You quickly obliged, unraveling the hot dish and started to dig in. "Where's Hitoka?"

"Well, I'm just glad you decided to actually go to it, especially after stressing over it all summer." he hummed, the corners of his lips curled upward to reveal a small smile, the ends of his eyes crinkling in humorous teasing, "And Hitoka said she got called in for work, so she's not coming."

You nodded in response, though still confused: it was unlike her to pick up extra shifts. "Of course I went, I can't afford to not go," you replied while popping a portion of your katsudon into your mouth. Frankly, it really was an opportunity of a lifetime. 

Setting down his cup again, he sighed, "I know, I know." As much as he made fun of you about your stressful existence, he couldn't help but feel immensely proud of you sitting before him, clad in the black polo shirt with the university's name and  _ ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT  _ embroidered over the front left side. 

"Anyway, how was your first day?" Akaashi quipped, eager to change the subject. 

You gulped down your favorite sports drink Akaashi bought for you. "Classes were fine and all, but the athletic trainer I'm working for wasn't there today, so that kind of sucked. What about you?"

A smile tugged at his lips once again as his face lit up in enjoyment as he talked. From the moment you met him, he was always very meticulous in everything he did: the way he needed all his notes in order before he could begin studying, how he absolutely had to make sure there were no smudges on his glasses at all times, stopping mid-sentence to clean them, and how he described everything--including his day--in great detail.

Likewise, you appreciated his happiness too; it was relieving to see his smile, especially since you never saw it often. He could spend days--weeks even--finishing long literary assignments and typing up journalism entries for class. In fact, you had to drag him out of his room numerous times just to make sure he was eating; he had a terribly unhealthy habit of overworking himself. 

"I just don't understand why we'd get such a big assignment so early...it's only the first day," he grumbled quietly.

"What kind of assignment is it?"

"It's an article we have to write on topics that were given to us," he sighed, bringing his cup of tea back to his mouth. "I got Japan's underground street racing." 

"Is that a bad topic or something?" you asked.

"It's not necessarily bad, but it's just out of my comfort zone--I mean, I have no idea where to even begin," he trailed off. 

You shrugged, not exactly knowing how to help him. "Maybe you could just search it up?"

"I tried doing that while waiting for you," he explained. Suddenly, he shot up in attention. "Speaking of which," he started, piercing blue eyes meeting yours, "could you do me a huge favor?"

"Depends what it is," you muttered, tipping the last of your beverage into your mouth, hesitant yet interested in what he had to say.

His eyes widened in excitement as he leaned toward you, resting his elbows on the edge of the table. "I came across a sketchy forum that mentioned a time and location for a race," he eyed you down cautiously. You knew where this was going.

"Akaashi." You groaned, not because you didn't want to accompany him, but more so because you were concerned about the legitimacy of the event. A public ad for a clearly illegal race? It couldn't be real.

"I just want to go to one," his eyebrows creased toward each other, begging you. "Just to see what it's like. You know, to write my article," he gestured to his closed laptop near his backpack sprawled over his side of the table, frowning ever so slightly. 

You sighed, seriously considering whether this was a good idea; Akaashi can definitely get reckless for a grade. Knowing him, he would go to the event with or without you; that's just how he was. 

"Okay, I'll go with you to check it out," you laughed lightly, amused as his tense body relaxed into the chair behind him. "But you have to come with me somewhere first."

\--

Not only two hours later, you and Akaashi stood in front of the door to an apartment complex. With just enough time for both of you to trek back to your shared apartment and get ready for the night, you hadn't exactly spared the details to Akaashi about the party.

"How did you find out about this again?" he huffed, burying his pink-tinged nose back into his navy blue scarf, away from the biting cold that nipped at your skin. "And whose place is this?" he asked, his glasses fogging from his warm breath.

"My new coworker invited me," a puff of white escaped your lips and nose, "and don't worry about it."

"I don't want to stay for too long," Akaashi mentioned for the fifth time that night, "I have a 7am tomorrow."

"I know, I know, just a couple hours," you sighed, repeating the words he countlessly drilled into your head on the way here. You took out the crumpled green sticky note again, double checking if the cab driver dropped you both off at the right address. 

"Let's get inside," Akaashi breathed, eyes watching a group of young, probable university students as they stumbled up the short concrete steps into the building, obviously fresh from pregaming. 

Tugging on Akaashi's sleeve, you followed the group before you all the way up to the 7th floor, even squeezing into a small elevator with them. Once on the floor, they entered the apartment thumping with loud music furthest down the hallway that stretched to the left of the elevator. Just in case, you looked at the address Iwaizumi gave you earlier. Comparing the instructions to those written on the apartment complex's wall, you determined this was the place. 

Entering after the group before, you were surprised to see the apartment darkened and absolutely packed and blasting with music. A wave of heat rushed out through the door as you opened it, probably from all the bodies dancing in the middle of the living room. Didn't Iwaizumi say this was supposed to be small?

Without much time to take in the whole scene, you were shoved by another group of people behind you who were eager to get in, your body thrusted into the swarming pile of flesh in the middle of the room. Sweaty bodies surrounded you, pushing into you left and right as the smell of weed and liquor filled your lungs. Turning around, you were shocked to see Akaashi no longer behind you. You understood you lost him in the crowd, but it was absolutely disgusting to be in there completely sober. Fighting against the bodies toward the kitchen bar, you finally reached an area where you had some personal space. On your toes, you stretched up as high as you could to try to spot Akaashi. Maybe he would be somewhere in the crowd or next to the door?

"Hey, you're here!" A voice erupted next to your ear. You quickly turned to see Iwaizumi, slightly sweaty with a red cup in hand. His dark sage-colored eyes had an amused glint in them, surprised you actually came. Instead of the athletic department's uniform he was wearing in the office, he donned a black button-down shirt, sleeves messily rolled to just above his elbows, buttons near his neck sloppily undone to reveal the sharp angles of clavicles meeting his sternum. Like the black polo, this shirt was once again a half-size-too-small as you could easily see the outline of his biceps and chest muscles even in the dim lighting. You were taken aback by his presence, but thankful to recognize someone.

"Hey!" You answered back, shouting over the loudness. "I lost my friend in the crowd!"

"She's probably fine, but you should get a drink for her!" He shouted back, pointing in the direction of the kitchen with his drink in hand. He momentarily leaned closer to your ear, shouting a little softer, "I saw you come in with a guy, is he your boyfriend?"

"No, he's just a friend!" You shouted back. Iwaizumi made a confused face before fully bending down to your level, his head turned sideways so that his ear was near your lips. "He's-he's just a friend," you say, surprised at the sudden movement. You caught the faintest whiff of his cologne and the alcohol fanning from his breath. The close proximity didn't last long as Iwaizumi stumbled into you, the weight of him and another person nearly knocking you into the wall. 

Iwaizumi promptly shoved him off, lightly kicking his ass and sending the individual face-down into the ground.

"Iwa-chan," the brunet individual whined from the ground, peering over his shoulder to look at Iwaizumi through his bangs, "why are you being so mean?"

_ "Iwa-chan"? _

Iwaizumi huffed, a look of frustration on his face as he ran his fingers through his dark hair, "Just get up already!" He grabbed the shirt and upper arm of the male on the ground, dragging him up and onto his feet. Once he regained his balance, the giddy, brunet male's brown eyes met yours.

"Oh? Iwa-chan, who's this?" He asked, a huge smile spreading across his pink cheeks. A bit taller than Iwaizumi, you felt a little cornered by these two men that looked down at you. The shirt he was wearing was a cheap light blue Hawaiian print shirt, all the buttons loose to reveal his toned torso, his external obliques looking especially accentuated as he rested his arm onto Iwaizumi's shoulder, the movement causing his shirt to rise slightly. An uncomfortable feeling made your stomach churn, your eyes darting away from the brunet only to find that most of the girls in the room were now looking at you. 

Iwaizumi looked at you first and stated your name in introduction, causing his friend to nod his head at you in greeting. "Y/N, this is Oikawa Tooru...he's the guy going to Argentina for volleyball."

Oikawa beamed at you, "It's great to finally meet one of Iwa's coworkers! I'm glad you could come by, let's go get some drinks!" He guided you into the kitchen, hand settling at the base of your back as Iwaizumi followed silently behind.

Once in the kitchen, Iwaizumi drank the last of whatever was in his cup before setting it down on the counter. "What do you drink?" Oikawa perked, eyeing you up and down as he opened the fridge to get some spirits.

"Anything, really," you laughed, "Can you make me something?"

A charming smile laced on his slightly pink face, Oikawa shot you a dazzling wink. "Sure, I'll make something I learned in Argentina," he looked from you to Iwaizumi, "Iwa-chan seems to like it a lot."

With matching drinks and red cups in hand, Oikawa urged you all to join plastic cups together with a dull  _ clank,  _ much to Iwaizumi's objection _.  _ Oikawa cheered a bit before you all downed the drink in one go. The three of you drank whatever idea came to mind, although most of the ideas only came from you and Oikawa. 

"Oikawa," you breathed after your fourth shot, the burning sensation tickling your upper chest and throat, "How did you end up playing for Argentina?"

He laughed a bit harder than you would consider normal before slinking an arm around Iwaizumi's neck. "I started playing pro after we graduated high school," he lazily gestured between himself and Iwaizumi. "Iwa-chan and I were always on the same team up until then."

"You played volleyball in high school?" You gasped, looking at Iwaizumi, who didn't meet your gaze but instead nodded, eyes glued to his empty shot glass.

"Yeah, Iwa-chan was the best!" Oikawa marveled to you, embracing Iwaizumi even closer, "He was our ace!" You figured Iwaizumi seemed like the kind of guy to have done sports in his youth just looking at his build. After all, he was practically oozing athleticism...but you never expected volleyball. Baseball, maybe.

"Okay, that's enough," Iwaizumi voiced sternly toward his friend, lightly nudging Oikawa's arm away from him, "it's gross."

"What?" Oikawa teased back, now making his way over to you, "Nothing wrong with being an ace." His brown eyes peered into yours from heavy-lidded eyes as his face inched closer to yours, pink lips slightly ajar forming a smirk. "What about you, hmm? Are you into aces? Or are setters more your type?" he whispered lowly.

His hot mouth was practically on your face as you could make out the tiniest amount of brazen flirtatiousness that dripped from his words, which clearly denoted an underlying meaning. Taken aback by his sudden shift in demeanor, you backed away from him, offering a shy laugh in response. 

Oikawa hummed at your actions, tongue swiping across his bottom lip, "Guess not."

"Stop, you're making Y/N feel self-conscious," Iwaizumi boomed from behind Oikawa, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder to provide distance between you two.

"You mean unconscious," Oikawa piped back in response, slurring faintly.

"What?" Iwaizumi turned to look Oikawa dead in the eyes, half-laughing at Oikawa's misuse of the word. "That doesn't make any sense, idiot."

Sensing his friend still didn't understand what he meant, Iwaizumi's smile dropped from his face once he realized Oikawa was being serious. 

"Unconscious means, like, unresponsive--comatose," he said slowly, "Self-conscious means you're shy or whatever. Stupid-ass." Oikawa nodded at Iwaizumi's quick vocabulary lesson, waving his hand in front of his friend’s face in a dismissive motion before pouring more drinks for the three of you. 

After a while, you felt a good amount of the alcohol as it pumped through your body. You turned your head to Iwaizumi, a slight blush spread across his cheeks, nose, and ears. He caught your gaze and stared at you for a long time--long enough to make your sober self feel uncomfortable, but thanks to the alcohol, this time you didn't look away. 

"Y/N!" A voice erupted from the kitchen entrance, causing you to peel your eyes from Iwaizumi and toward the interruption. "I've been looking all over for you!" Akaashi exasperatedly came up to grasp your forearm, sweaty and huffing loudly. "We have to go--I completely forgot I had an assignment due in half an hour." 

Tired and tipsy, you leaned into his arm, "Akaaashiii," you wailed, "not yet!" Once he heard your intoxicated tone of voice, he looked up to see Iwaizumi and Oikawa looking at him. As he turned to ask you who these two men were that you were drinking with, Iwaizumi explained for you.

"I'm her coworker and he's hosting," he thumbed toward Oikawa, who was leaning over the counter with a sly grin.

Akaashi offered a polite smile and nodded before replying, "I'm her friend. And the guy who has to make sure she gets back home." His eyes fell back to you as you tugged him in closer and buried your face into his arm.

"Akaaashiii, I don't wanna leave yet," you whined before slumping down to the floor and scooting away from him, back pressed flush against the cabinets. Your shoulder hit something and you looked up to see Iwaizumi staring down at you. 

"Y/N, please, I just need to submit it," Akaashi groaned, attempting to grab your ankles but you lazily kicked his hands away, your body pushing further and further into Iwaizumi's leg. "Due in 30 minutes," he repeated, hands falling into his lap in defeat. The cab drive itself took about 20 minutes and he could submit it in under 5 minutes, but that meant he had to convince you to get off the floor, haul you downstairs, and call a cab all in less than 5 minutes.

"Just go," Iwaizumi looked at Akaashi, head nodding toward the door, "I can take her back."

Akaashi sighed and rose back to his full height to look at Iwaizumi. Even though he had a red cup in hand and there were dozens of glasses on the kitchen counter, it didn't seem like Iwaizumi had drank a whole lot. Still hesitant about letting a total stranger bring you home in your drunken state, Akaashi began to decline Iwaizumi's offer, even if it meant sacrificing his grade for that assignment. Akaashi couldn't leave you alone like that with two guys at this party, no matter what.

"We're coworkers, it's strictly professional," Iwaizumi urged, stepping closer to Akaashi and gently pushing his upper arm in the direction of the door. "Trust me, I'm the one who invited her to come anyway--and if anything happens, you can find me at the office." 

Not seeing any other option, Akaashi reasoned he could trust this guy. After all, you and he worked in the same office. " _ Strictly professional,"  _ he repeated Iwaizumi's words back to himself. He sighed and thanked Iwaizumi, offering a small smile to him and Oikawa before tapping you on your head on his way out, signaling his leave. 

"Let's keep going!" You chimed from the floor, Oikawa once again laughing for a bit too long. He started to make the three of you drinks again, but Iwaizumi nudged him before he could pour a third glass. Understanding his friend's gesture, Oikawa set the large bottle back down and handed you one of the two drinks.

"Y/N, be my partner for beer pong!" Oikawa gushed, grasping your hand as he led you out of the kitchen and to the far side of the living room where a small table had been set up for the game. 

A cold bottle of water in hand, Iwaizumi silently followed behind you two, settling down on a nearby chair that viewed the middle of the table. You and Oikawa were a dominating pair, smashing every single one of your opponents quickly. Even though you both were constantly winning, Oikawa insisted that you both match the shots that your opponents drank, occasionally drinking it for them. 

"That's not how you play." Iwaizumi hissed at Oikawa as his friend reached across the table to collect another opponent's cup. Oikawa rolled his eyes at his sober friend, swatting his concern away with his hand as he gave the cup to you. After countless games and drinks, your condition steadily kept getting worse and worse, until you found it hard to even keep the ball on the table.

It wasn't until you started referring to Oikawa as "Tooru" that Iwaizumi knew you were completely gone. The way you laughed with Oikawa, playfully hitting his arm or chest when you would win yet another round like you two had known each other for years. He knew his best friend always got loads of attention from everyone--especially at parties like these--but Iwaizumi didn't expect you to fall for Oikawa's charms so quickly, although he wasn't surprised either. His best friend had always been a social butterfly, instantly being able to connect with people immediately. It was a skill that Iwaizumi lacked for some reason, and he envied Oikawa for that.

"Let's dance instead!" Oikawa shouted over the thumping music, grabbing your hand and guiding you near the large group of bodies dancing, grinding, and pushing up on each other. As you two incorporated into the mass of people, only then did you realize that most of the girls in the room were constantly looking at you and Oikawa dancing together. It wasn't just curious glances, either; some girls were full-on staring you down. You felt uneasy, but Oikawa bent down to your ear, shouting, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom!"

You nodded, feeling more comfortable when the stares died down as soon as Oikawa left the scene. You continued dancing by yourself, perfectly happy and intoxicated, your body calmed and soothed by the booming bass. Firm hands grasped your waist from behind, a hot puff of breath lingering over your ear and traveled down to the base of your neck. 

"Dance with me," the deep voice muttered. Happy to have a dance partner again, you obliged, pushing yourself flush against his front torso and moving your hips ever so slightly against him. His hands ran up and down your sides, carefully squeezing and caressing your skin. You were fine with the movements, but began to feel his grip tighten around your hips, right arm stretching across your torso to your opposite hip, his left hand traveling up your stomach, to the base of your left breast. You quickly pushed his hand away, but his grip on you was hard, enough to bruise. He buried his head into the side of your neck, and you squirmed in his arms, shouting against the music, but the bass drowned your struggling screams. 

"Hey!" A voice rumbled next to you, and before you knew it, the man's body was ripped from yours. You stumbled forward, almost falling, and turned to see a large figure with dark hair, dressed in black with his back turned to you, confronting the man who was feeling you up from behind. "She's not into that," Iwaizumi hissed, shoving the man backward. He turned toward you, "Time to go." 

Immediately, he takes your wrist and leads you outside the crowd, which momentarily watched the commotion but resumed dancing. Once at the door to the apartment, he starts to open it but is met with your grip on his arm, your eyes meeting his.

"Wait, Iwa-chan," you whined, the nickname that only Oikawa ever used for him gliding out of your mouth made his eyes slightly widen, "I want to say bye to Tooru."

"' _ Tooru _ '? I don't even call him that." He sighed in frustration, looking down at your dazed appearance while urging you both out the door until he felt you bury your head into his arm.

"Please," you whined softly. He took a deep breath, eyebrows knit together as he ran tense fingers through his hair in frustration. 

"Fine, let's look for him."

Iwaizumi led you through the apartment, hand carefully wrapped around yours as he opened various doors, weaving in between people and navigating the layout through the dim lighting. He opened the door to the bathroom, which was closed but surprisingly unlocked, to find Oikawa fully clothed in the tub, snoring loudly. Iwaizumi initially froze at the sight, then stepped closer to wake his friend with a firm slap across his thigh, leaving a pink imprint of a hand.

Oikawa grunted awake at the impact, wide brown eyes meeting Iwaizumi's olive ones. Oikawa then sheepishly smiled at his friend, trying to pull him in for a hug. Iwaizumi groaned, almost disappointed at his friend. "Party's over," Iwaizumi muttered to Oikawa, who wailed in response.

Hand still grasping your wrist, Iwaizumi pushed you onto the closed toilet lid to sit. "Wait here," he instructed before heading out the bathroom door and shutting it on his way out. Moments later, the thumping music came to a stop, followed by groans of objection. You turned to look at Oikawa, sleeping soundly in the tub again. Iwaizumi returned to the bathroom about 2 minutes later, water bottles and Pedialytes in hand. 

He tossed you a Pedialyte and water. "Drink," he instructed to you, before turning to his friend and waking him up again.

"Mmm," Oikawa groaned, pushing away Iwaizumi's hand that was lifting the Pedialyte to his mouth. You could have sworn a vein popped in Iwaizumi's neck as he groaned in frustration before forcing Oikawa's mouth open, feeding the bottle to him like a dog. Half frightened at the sight of Iwaizumi forcing Oikawa's mouth open, you quickly opened your Pedialyte bottle and began to drink up. 

One foot in the tub, Iwaizumi struggled to hoist Oikawa up and over his shoulder. He walked out of the bathroom, you slowly trailing behind him as he kicked open the door to Oikawa's bedroom. He slammed Oikawa onto his bed, not caring if he woke up. His eyes shot open at the sudden sensation of falling, and his eyes focused on Iwaizumi, who was already working to get most of Oikawa's clothes off. Unbuttoning his pants, Iwaizumi pulled off the fabric in a swift motion, which left Oikawa gasping at the sudden cold as he reached to cover his flowery boxers with a blanket. 

"Okay, that should be it," Iwaizumi panted, leaning up from the bed and looked toward you. You were still very drunk, but the water helped sober you up a little bit. The room was spinning as you made your way over to the bedside.

"Bye, Tooru," you sang softly, patting Oikawa's shoulder, "have fun in Argentina." 

His eyes fluttered open in response, "Thanks, Y/N, keep Iwa-chan company." Oikawa drifted to sleep slowly after, Iwaizumi promptly turning off his friend's light and grabbing your wrist again before leading you both out of the now-empty apartment and toward the elevator. 

He turned to assess your appearance to find the slightest bit of pink still decorating your cheeks and nose. "Now let's get you home."


	2. Chapter 2

"Now let's get you home."

As the two of you stood in front of the whirring elevator, Iwaizumi released his grasp on your hand that he didn't realize he still had and pulled out his phone from his back pocket. He cursed under his breath as he read the numbers printed on his screen.

2:56 AM

Tucking his phone back into his pocket, he glanced at you from the corner of his eye. Slightly sweaty from all the jumping and dancing you did with Oikawa and with bluish-purple tinging the skin just below your eyes, Iwaizumi could tell you were exhausted. The elevator doors opened and the two of you stepped in. 

"Got any classes today?" He asked, hitting a button. The doors closed once again and the elevator began to shakily descend.

"I have a class at 12, but that's it," you sighed, eyes barely able to stay open. 

"Oh yeah? What class?" Iwaizumi was clearly trying to keep you awake. After being so exhausted and having too many drinks, it was a miracle you were still standing.

"It's supposedly a really hard kinesiology course. I can't miss a class, not even for the first day."

The two of you carried on the light conversation, him trying to keep you at least somewhat conscious while you were desperately attempting to be composed. At some point, you found out that he had already taken the majority of the classes you were currently taking and offered to give his old textbooks to you. He even offered to help you study--only if you wanted to...and if you weren’t busy, of course.

Once the elevator slowed to a stop, the doors creaked open and the two of you stepped out, Iwaizumi leading the way. A cool rush of air surrounded you, causing your arms to instantly cross over the front of your chest. You were now in an underground parking lot. Iwaizumi led you across the gray structure, both your footsteps echoing across the concrete, an action that felt almost disruptive to the silence that filled the night. 

Focused on the biting cold, you almost didn't realize Iwaizumi came to a stop. Pressing a button twice on a remote he recovered from his pocket, white halo lights of the car in front of you flickered on.

Iwaizumi walked over to the passenger side, opening the door to a dark, sleek Skyline R34 GT-R. You examined the shiny exterior, a shade so dark that you'd assume it were black unless you looked at it close enough to find a deep purplish undertone. Decorated with black accents and wide tires with matching black rims, the entire look of the car was incredibly impressive. The windows were impossibly tinted dark, only letting in the faintest glow from the dim parking lot lights. While the front windows were kept neat, the back two windows were littered with white stickers--one of which stood out the most as it was printed in bold--contrasted against the obsidian-colored exterior surface.

_MAD DOG_

"This is yours?" you asked, trying to comprehend how he could possibly own this car. 

A small smile lit up his face as he wiggled the keys hanging from a keychain at you between his thumb and forefinger, answering your question without saying anything. 

"I thought you were cold," he stated, head nodding toward the interior, "you getting in?"

Remembering the brisk chill of the night, you shuddered and quickly paced to the open door, eagerly sinking into the midnight black passenger seat. Iwaizumi shut the door, allowing the fragrance of his car to settle around you, to which you recognized as his cologne and the faintest smell of cinnamon. His car was otherwise empty, aside from a few coins that littered the cup holders and a small, charcoal _Godzilla_ plushie that hung from the rearview mirror. 

Iwaizumi opened the driver's side door and slipped into his seat, quickly turning the key into the ignition, causing the car to loudly roar to life before settling on a low hum that sent vibrations into the floor and seats. The plushie gently swung at the jolting movements.

"Seatbelt," Iwaizumi reminded you, tugging his own across his chest and securely clicking it locked. You followed suit as he flicked the car headlights on, illuminating the already-lit garage even more. With one hand remaining on the top of the steering wheel and the other resting on the gear shift, he shifted the car into action and accelerated, the car whipping from the stall and rumbling into the dimly lit streets. You quickly punched in the address to your apartment into your phone, thumbing the volume button so Iwaizumi could hear the robotic directions.

Although you were only in there for less than a minute, you could tell this was a fast car, judging from the movements as the vehicle hugged each turn and the booming sounds that erupted each time Iwaizumi switched gears. The reflections of the streetlights bounced up across the shiny purple car hood and over the windshield, causing flashes of lights to rhythmically dance across both of your faces as Iwaizumi skillfully guided the car across the roads. The howling sounds of the car cutting through the wind filled the cabin, inducing a yawn to escape from your lips.

"Tired?" Iwaizumi asked, head lazily reclined against the headrest of his seat, chin slightly turned upwards and half-lidded eyes glued to the road. His voice was softer than usual, presumably from his own exhaustion. The rhythmic flashing of the overhead lights coupled with the emanating glow from the dash casked his face in a wonderful way, the diminished lighting softening his otherwise sharp features. 

"A little," you managed to speak, coming down from your yawn as tears pooled in your eyes, blurring the lights that emanated from his dashboard.

"You can sleep," he replied, the car jerking a bit as he shifted into another gear to speed past a group of cars. You knew he was driving fast--perhaps reckless, but you were too tired and too drunk to criticize him. Heavy eyes finally closing as you rested your head against the angle of your seatbelt, your shoulders relaxed into the comfort of the seat.

\--

"...I don't think he means it at all, but it's still upsetting."

You fidgeted in your seat before settling back into the crook of your seatbelt. Iwaizumi paused, clenching the wheel a bit tighter as he held his breath, hoping he didn't wake you. He sat still for a while, only making necessary movements to shift gears.

Determining you slipped back to slumber, he continued softly, "I just didn't think you were like that." Now that you heard him directly-yet-indirectly address you, you were practically fully awake. You listened with your eyes closed. 

"Everyone flocks toward him...girls, guys, whatever," he said, changing lanes to rev past more cars. "My friends become his friends more than they are my friends...it gets kind of irritating sometimes."

You pieced together that he was referring to Oikawa. There wasn't a hint in his voice that revealed jealousy; rather, it was more like disappointment. As you considered it more, his ordeal did make sense: Oikawa seemed to be a naturally sociable person, and tonight's events were just an example of that. You hadn't noticed Iwaizumi felt this way and instantaneously felt guilty; the time in the kitchen, the games--was Iwaizumi uncomfortable during all that?

After a while of silence, you groggily sat up in your seat and rubbed your face, pretending to have just woken. "Where are we?"

Iwaizumi was quick to respond, "We're almost there. Sorry it's taking so long, I had to take a detour because of an accident."

"How bad was it?" You asked, looking out your window to see the familiar scenery of your street. 

"Not too bad, but it looked like a race got out of hand."

As you clicked your tongue, he could sense your dissatisfaction from the news. "They shouldn't do those on public roads," you stated, mostly to yourself.

In a few minutes, the car slowly pulled into a parking stall near the entrance to the building. Iwaizumi quickly parked and shut off the vehicle along with its lights before exiting, lightly jogging around the car to open the passenger door for you, mostly concerned you may fall out and hit your head on the asphalt--a problem that he would prefer not to deal with.

"Thanks," you whispered, stepping out of the car quicker than you should have. Your vision clouded from the sudden change in position and you stumbled a bit, knocking slightly into his chest. He lightly laughed at your lack of coordination, steadying you with a hand on your shoulder. 

After sleepily slurring out instructions back to your apartment, he nodded and began to lead you in the direction, hand still resting on your shoulder as a protective measure to prevent you from falling. Iwaizumi steered you both down the halls and up the elevator as best he could, trying his best to avoid you bumping into walls or letting you slump over.

Nearing your door, he lightly squeezed your shoulder, "Where's your keys?" 

You leaned into him more as your hand shuffled into your back pocket, pulling out the familiar set of keys attached to a Hello Kitty strawberry keychain. 

Iwaizumi mentally laughed at the childish thing, making sure to bring it up the next time he saw you. He grabbed it from your hand and swiftly inserted the key labeled " _home"_ and swung the door open. The lights flickered on, revealing the main entrance to your apartment as Iwaizumi hauled you in, the door slamming closed behind you two. You pointed toward the left side of the apartment, past the living room and kitchen, toward a door that he assumed was your room.

Gently, he guided you to sit on the edge of your bed while he started to remove your shoes. You collapsed into the comfort behind you, drifting off to sleep before you could thank Iwaizumi for bringing you this way. 

He stood over you awkwardly, even nudging your sleeping figure to test if you actually fell asleep that fast. Standing up fully, he took a few moments to observe your sleeping figure, and then shifted his gaze to the rest of your room. Books, papers, and sticky notepads littered your desk, the calendar on your bulletin board decorated in multi-colored ink as reminders. Pictures were taped onto the wall over your desk, and he recognized one person as the friend you brought with you tonight. Another girl, whom he didn’t recognize, was also plastered on your wall of pictures, the two of you in matching skimpy bunny suits. The black suit clung to your figure beautifully, detached white collar and wrist cuffs hugging your skin, and a black bowtie and pair of bunny ears to finish the look. He paid attention to the picture for longer than he realized, having to mentally snap himself out of it and pry his eyes away from the revealing costumes. He shook his head, mentally cursing at the thoughts he just had.

As he was about to take his leave, his eyes fell back at your sleeping figure on your bed, chest rising and falling at an even pace. Sighing, he re-entered your room.

\--

You woke to the sound of your alarm cutting through the silence of the room. Groggy and confused, you turned toward your nightstand to silence the ringing, opening your eyes slightly to the burning sight of sunlight streaming through your window. You sat up on one elbow in bed, grabbing your phone connected to its charger from your nightstand. Once in focus, your eyes widened at the time as you disabled the alarm.

11:00 AM

"Shit," you mumbled, clawing yourself out of bed but pausing once you noticed new items on your nightstand. A bottle of water from your mini fridge was placed next to the small container of Advil you kept in your bathroom, a note placed nearby.

_Class at 12. I'll bring the textbooks to the office._

_\-- Iwaizumi_

Memories from last night came rushing back, reminding you of Oikawa, drinking, and Iwaizumi driving you back. Shuddering at the embarrassment of having to be taken home from a party by your stranger of a coworker, you finally stood up to get ready.

You opened the door of your bedroom to see the usual sight of blonde hair stretched across the living room couch, Hitoka's neck craned toward the TV. She looked more tired than usual, the undersides of her eyes slightly darkened but you couldn't tell if that was from her usual heavy night makeup. 

"Look who's finally up!" she voiced in amusement as she picked her head up from the couch to sit up. "How was the party?"

"How did you know there was a party?" you asked, walking toward her to see a cartoon playing on the TV.

"Akaashi stopped by to check on you, made sure you got home," she said, elbows leaning on her thighs and sliding her hand across the coffee table to grab a cigarette, her fine-lined ribcage tattoo visible under the hem of her crop top.

"And?"

"And nothing," she stated, flicking her lighter. Once the cigarette was lit, she took in a long drag, "He left because he had an early class."

"Did you go to class?"

"Just got back from a morning class but I have another in the afternoon," she blew out a puff of smoke upward. 

" _Yachi_ , c'mon--if you're gonna smoke, at least go on the balcony."

"' _Yachi_ '?" she squeaked in return, quickly standing up and opening the door to the small balcony. Nose wrinkling in disgust at the smell of smoke, you entered the bathroom and shut the door behind you. 

\--

Your kinesiology class flew by rather quickly, and you were happy that Iwaizumi was nice enough to offer you help on the material. After all, the professor seemed to have strict grading policies on the syllabus and was reluctant to speak to the students after class. You mentally cursed the old man, whose dead eyes looked as if he didn’t want to be there either.

Opening the door to the office, Iwaizumi's head popped up from behind the counter. Leaning back into his chair with his hands clasped behind his head as you circled around the counter to where he sat, he took a good look at you, surveying the effects from the night before.

"How do you feel?" 

"Fine, I think," you stated, placing your bag on the desk full of files and folders. "Thanks for everything last night--the ride, alarm, water, pills...everything," you slightly laughed, counting each action he's done to help you on your fingers.

He was dressed in the uniform black polo, his matching black arm sleeve covering his left arm. He looked more tired than usual, the lack of sleep evidenced by the slight dark circles under his eyes and his voice being huskier than usual. You suddenly felt guilty at his appearance. You were the reason for his state, after all.

"Don't worry about it," he laughed softly, "I'm glad you had a great time."

He gave you the textbooks as promised, making sure to inform you of the testing habits of each of your professors and what to focus on while studying. The two of you talked comfortably while doing paperwork, the blurry events of last night serving as an excellent icebreaker. 

“What was that weird dinosaur thing in your car?” you light-heartedly questioned, clicking your pen closed, leaning back into your chair away from the stack of papers littering the shared reception desk.

“ _Dinosaur?_ ” Iwaizumi repeated, surprised olive eyes narrowing and flickering to you while setting his pen down. His hand crossed over to grip a page of scrap paper before crumpling it into a ball and tossing it at your head. “Godzilla’s a radioactive _monster_. If you’re going to talk about the King of Monsters, at least address him right.”

The paper ball hit your forehead, dropping down into your lap. Your eyes widened, hand slamming over your mouth to stifle your laughter. “Oh. My god…you’re a Godzilla nerd.”

“You’re a Hello Kitty dork,” he shot back, a humorously serious expression on his face.

“My roommate got that for me,” you laughed. “And it’s way more normal than Godzilla. I bet you bought that plushie for yourself.”

“So what if I did?” His cheeks and the tips of his ears heated up, his eyes nervously darting across the room. “I mean, I didn’t--Oikawa got it for me.”

Suddenly, the door to the office opened, interrupting your conversation to reveal a man with dyed blond hair secured back with a headband, a large box between his arms.

"Iwaizumi!" he panted as Iwaizumi shot up from his chair and rushed over to aid the faux blond. You followed shortly behind, watching as Iwaizumi lifted the box from the man's arms with ease before setting it down in the reception space behind the counter. As the man walked past you, you caught the scent of cigarette smoke as you peered from the corner of your eyes to read the label on his black polo. 

_Ukai Keishin_

"There's a game today?" Iwaizumi questioned, peering into the box to see the usual gear that they take to games. Iwaizumi always checked the schedule at least twice a day, and he was sure there wasn't one scheduled for that afternoon.

"The other team's having lighting problems in their gym, so they're playing here," the man answered back, catching his breath as he locked eyes with you. "Are you my new intern?" 

"Yes, I'm Y/N, it's great to be working with you." You extended your hand for him to take, only for him to lightly swat it away.

"Don't be so formal. It makes me feel old," he chuckled lightly. "I assume Iwaizumi showed you around the place?" 

You and Iwaizumi nodded.

"Great, he's already doing my job for me," Ukai laughed again while patting Iwaizumi's shoulder. "I wasn't here to show you around yesterday because someone got injured, but good thing Iwaizumi's always thinking ahead."

Iwaizumi looked slightly uncomfortable being praised in front of you, hands tucked in his pockets and eyes fixated on the ground.

"Since he's already shown you around the place, he can show you what we do at games, too. You guys can fill in for me, so call me if anything happens," Ukai announced before turning to take his leave.

"Are you sure? What are you going to do?" Iwaizumi pressed, following closely behind Ukai. Sighing, Ukai turned around to meet the other male, head tilting slightly upward to look him in the eyes. 

"Iwaizumi," he started, "If you want me to be honest, I'm going out for a smoke and then I'm taking a nap." The blond then retreated into the corridor toward his private office, adding over his shoulder, "And then I'll catch up on some paperwork." 

The both of you looked at each other and then to the box. 

"The game starts in 10," Ukai yelled from down the hall, "get going." 

You and Iwaizumi scrambled to get any other necessary supplies, him instructing you on what to get and where to find it. As you both were exiting the door to the office, he paused when he looked down at you to see your bare forearms.

"Do you have a jacket? It gets really cold in there."

You shook your head. Although it was only spring, the temperatures were still high enough to not make you think twice about grabbing a jacket before your first class. Iwaizumi jogged back into the office before slinging his gray hoodie that rested on his chair over his shoulder.

Before you knew it, the two of you were out the door and on your way to the main gymnasium, Iwaizumi holding the large box and you holding the first aid kit and binder.

As you entered the gym, the squeaks of shoes rubbing against the floors filled your ears, the cool blast of air conditioning sending a shiver up your spine. The scent of the floor polish and dusty arena seats was familiar to your nose as you followed Iwaizumi to the area of the main court, settling into seats near where your university's team's belongings were. The upper seats were already decently filled up with fans and students to support each team, a clear liking geared toward your university team as it was now a home game. The startling sounds of volleyballs slamming against the floor was loud enough to make both of you raise your voice so the other could hear. 

"Didn't you play in high school?" you asked Iwaizumi, who had already set the box down on the chair next to his.

"Yeah, but it was never like this," he laughed, gesturing toward the wide expanse of the court surrounded by dozens of rows of seats that trailed toward the high ceilings. 

"You guys must've been pretty good considering one of you guys are playing pro now," you replied. Both of you settled into your seats, and Iwaizumi tossed his gray hoodie into your lap, causing a gust of his cologne to fan over your body. 

Iwaizumi shrugged at your comment. "Just because one player was insanely good doesn't mean the entire team was good." He looked up toward the bright lights that illuminated the gym, a small grin tugging at his lips, "We didn't even make it to nationals."

The starting whistle was called, signaling both teams to conclude their warm ups and line up on the end line. "Oikawa said you were the best ace," you lightly laughed, reminiscing the night before while nudging the side of Iwaizumi’s arm with your elbow. 

"Oikawa's an idiot, you should know that by now," he snickered, shooting you a sideways glance. As the game continued, you were thankful Iwaizumi brought his hoodie. The air conditioning was already cold, but just sitting still for more than half an hour accentuated the chilliness. You tugged the hoodie closer to your torso, shielding your bare arms from the icy air. 

"Just put it on already," Iwaizumi snickered, amusedly watching you freeze to death in your seat with his arms crossed across his chest. "That's why you should always keep a jacket in the office."

"You should've told me yesterday," you sneered back at him while lifting the warm hoodie over your head, slinking your arms through the large openings and pushing your head out, the hood flopping onto the top of your head. The garment smelled exactly like him: cinnamon and his cologne, with just the faintest whiff of smoke. Situating the rest of the fabric around you, the soft interior warmed you up almost instantaneously. It looked extremely big on you, and you could tell by the way the length of arms didn't reach the hand openings and how the extra material rested around your stomach. 

A long whistle pierced through the air, signaling the end of the first set. As both the teams briefly huddled, you and Iwaizumi gathered all the supplies and moved them to the opposite court, setting them down onto the opponent's chairs. The next set began and the two of you engaged in more conversation. You learned that Oikawa and Iwaizumi were childhood friends, and grew up to attend the same middle and high schools. 

You somewhat envied their close relationship; even though Oikawa was gone for most of the time, he and Iwaizumi could pick things up like normal, although you could sense that Iwaizumi definitely did miss his friend at times even though you knew he would never admit it. He mainly talked about volleyball, and shared his goals about becoming an athletic trainer after he graduated. Two years ago, he revealed that he visited the United States to talk to an athletic trainer he wanted to intern under, but he ended up being the father of his best friend's rival. Ultimately, the internship abroad fell through, but he was able to land one here.

"Oikawa was so pissed when I sent that selfie of me and Ushijima," Iwaizumi cackled, clutching his sides. "He FaceTimed me so fast."

You watched his behaviors he revealed as he reminisced, and you noticed the way his sage-green eyes closed when he threw his head back in laughter, the way his eyebrows dipped down toward his eyes, tightly sealing his face with joy, and the way his cheeks and ears blushed ever so slightly when he laughed hard. He subconsciously always ran his hand through his spiky dark hair, slightly ruffling the tufts. 

As he calmed down, he sighed before reaching into his bag to pull out the same package of gum he had yesterday. He quickly popped a white square into his mouth and began to put it back.

"Can I have one?" you asked, offering a smile and an empty palm toward him. Already chewing the piece, he glanced at your empty palm and then back to you before zipping his bag closed once again.

"I don't think you'd like it," he replied, hand smacking yours giving you a low five and leaving your palm empty.

"Why, what favor is it?" you frowned back at him.

"Cinnamon," he replied, crossing his arms back over his chest, "but it's nicotine gum and you don't seem like a smoker."

"Oh," you answered back. "You smoke?"

"Used to," he sighed, "Ukai forced me to stop once he found out, even though he's still smoking. Fuckin' hypocrite." His lips pursed together as he clenched his teeth, the gum squishing between his jaws.

You didn't speak for a while; it was obvious you struck a nerve with him. Instead, you pulled out your phone to check the time. Much to your surprise, you received a notification.

 **_5:39PM_ ** _: Hey, long time no see! I finish work early today, are you free to grab dinner?_

Excitedly, you quickly tapped your response into your phone.

 **_5:39PM_ ** _: Sure, what are you feeling?_

The texting cloud remained on your screen for a bit before your phone chimed again.

 **_5:42PM_ ** _: I found a great ramen place near your place. I'll pick you up at 7?_

Grinning to yourself about the plans, you typed back in agreement and shut your phone off, tucking it back into your pocket.

Looking at you from the game, Iwaizumi must've noticed your preoccupied silence and tried to make conversation again. "The set should be over soon, looks like we're gonna take this match."

You nodded wordlessly, mentally planning what you would wear to dinner.

Iwaizumi continued, "I doubt anything bad's gonna happen, so let's just pack up now so we can leave as soon as we can."

You hummed in response as the two of you worked to fill the box again with equipment, briefly checking off all the items you brought. The game's final whistle was called, eliciting victory cheers from your university's team. After making sure none of the players needed tending to, you and Iwaizumi exited the gymnasium and stepped into the warm, humid evening air.

By the time both of you returned back to the office, the sun had already dipped below the horizon, painting the sky with streaks of purple and orange that were visible through the west-facing windows. Once Iwaizumi set the large box down onto the counter, he dug into his back pocket to fiddle with his phone, eagerly snapping a picture of the sunset. It must have been blurry because he took the photo again, this time steadying his hands on the glass in front of him.

"Anything we need to do?" You asked, watching him examine the photo on his phone. 

"Not unless the players want an ice bath or need physical therapy," he answered back, eyes still glued to the phone. Footsteps echoed from the corridor, and you turned to see Ukai yawning.

"Both of you can go home, I'll take care of it," Ukai announced, rubbing his cheek sleepily. Iwaizumi looked up to him, disappointment written all over his face.

"Were you sleeping this whole time? What happened to the paperwork?"

"I'll get it done tomorrow for sure," Ukai replied, raising an index finger to Iwaizumi. "But get out of here before I change my mind."

You giggled as you and a disgruntled Iwaizumi began to pack up for the night. You were glad you now had a decent amount of time to get ready for dinner. The two of you left the office together, the sun now well below the horizon and the sky darkened in the familiar hue of purplish-blue as the two of you walked down to the entrance of the building.

"We should grab dinner sometime," Iwaizumi announced once you two stepped foot outside. "So that uh--y'know, I could help you study." 

Your eyes widened in surprise as you turned to look at him. His head was turned upward so that you couldn't see his expression from your angle, but from the crinkles that appeared next to his eyes, you could tell that they were squeezed shut. You were at a loss for words by his sudden straight-forwardness. 

"Um, yeah, that'd be great," you answered with a smile.

"Like, right now?" Iwaizumi shot back, stopping in his tracks and looking down at you eagerly. He was smiling, a beautiful sight that you barely got to see within the past two days. His dark green eyes looked especially hopeful, eyebrows slightly raised in piqued interest.

"Oh, well, I'm having dinner with my friend tonight, so maybe another time?" You answered back slowly, feeling a lump form in the back of your throat. You watched as his excited expression quickly fell off his face, replaced with a small smile. He laughed lowly to himself.

"Yeah, you're right. There's nothing to study for, anyway...maybe another time." He replied, quickly turning in the direction opposite of your route. A gust of wind tousled his hair, gently blowing it across his face. "Tell Akaashi I said 'hi'," he called over his shoulder before walking away from you.

Before you could say anything, a text message rang from your phone.

 **_6:20PM_ ** _: Just got off work. See you at 7!_

As you read the message, a thought donned upon you from your earlier conversation. Now texting while walking back to your apartment, you typed in your response.

 **_6:21PM_ ** _: Wait, you're picking me up?_

No response. Usually, you two would meet up somewhere by calling a cab or taking the bus; he definitely didn’t have a car. On your walk back, you tried to think of the last time the both of you sat down and caught up with each other. Was it last summer? 

You quickly entered the apartment, checking the floor next to the front door to see Hitoka's sneakers gone, indicating she was out again. You set your bag down in your room before going to the bathroom, pausing to look at your reflection in the mirror. Iwaizumi's gray hoodie still covered your frame, the hem of the fabric settling near the top of your thighs. You gingerly took it off with the rest of your clothes, careful not to handle it too roughly, and entered the shower. 

Once out of the shower, you dressed yourself in casual jeans, sneakers, and a sweatshirt. After rushing to get ready, it wasn't long before your phone buzzed.

 **_6:54PM_ ** _: Outside_

Slipping on your crossbody bag and exiting the apartment, you made your way toward the front of the building facing the street, the dull sounds of your sneakers reverberating as they padded against the pavement under you. Glancing around the benches along the sidewalks, you didn't see anyone. 

As you took out your phone to type in a text message, a car door opened.

"Hey! I'm over here," a voice shouted in your direction, causing you to whirl around to see a blond haired figure with two brunet stripes extended across his hair. His honey-golden eyes were fixed on you, outlined in thin black eyeliner that he customarily wore. Half leaning on a dazzling pearl white Skyline R34 GT-R, he beckoned you to walk over toward him, to which you complied, slightly jogging over to embrace him. 

"Kentaro!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! Thank you for for reading this far. I've worked very hard on the previous chapters and I'm planning to continue this series if anyone else is interested; it will definitely be a great ride! If you like this fic and want to be updated on the new chapters, please follow my tiktok for more information: @hajimemashita777
> 
> Thank you so much! Happy reading :)
> 
> -r.l.

"Kentaro!"

You excitedly embraced him, having to shift your weight onto the tips of your toes and he having to lean over a bit to meet your height. His scent from his navy blue long sleeved shirt smelled of bubblegum like usual, always warm and comforting. Kentaro was always warm--literally and figuratively--to you. Despite his intimidating appearances, he was always gentle toward you since you were kids.

You pulled away from him, "How've you been?"

"Busy," he chuckled, "but it's been manageable." You offered a small smile, taking in his full appearance. The top portion of his blond hair was grown out longer than the last time you two met and it was messily tousled back, a look that suited him well. From the corner of your eye, a metallic glint shone from his right ear.

"You got another one?" You loudly gasped, resting your hands on his shoulder to look closer at the new addition to his other earrings. The black bar pierced the through his auricle twice, secured at each end with a small sphere. The surrounding skin of his ear was slightly red and inflamed, indicating it was still fresh. "When did you get it?"

"Last week, maybe?" he answered, bringing his finger to the piercing, lightly prodding at the bar. "Moriko wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday, so I got one too."

"Wow, how old is she now? Nine--no, ten?"

"She just turned 12, and Teiji is turning 15 this summer," Kentaro smiled, flashing you a glimpse of his pearly white teeth, the sharp canines of his upper jaw jutting out over his bottom lip slightly. "But enough about that, let's get going." Kentaro pushed your shoulder lightly in the direction of the passenger's side while he strolled to the driver's side, both of you opening the car doors and sliding into the two-toned red and black seats. 

"Since when did you have a car?" You asked him, settling in.

"What are you talking about?" he joked, bringing the car to a roaring start and pulling out of the parking lot. "I've always had this."

You paused to look at him, anger slowly building in your chest. "You mean to say all the times we missed the train and bus or ran in the pouring rain, you could have just driven us there?" You bit out between your teeth. He glanced at you from the road, eyes widened and mouth slightly agape, unsure of what to say.

"I couldn't drive it a lot back then," he explained cautiously, his smile returning to his lips in embarrassment, "I had to do some major mods. I felt like it wasn't anything to show."

"It's a nice car...my coworker actually has a car like this, just a different color," you said, looking out the window to see the passing scenery. 

"Oh yeah? What color?" Kentaro asked, weaving between lanes, half-focused on the conversation and driving a little faster than he should.

"Black," you answered, "or was it purple?" It was hard to remember what the car looked like, especially since the only time you saw it was at night while you were nearly black-out drunk. "It was definitely a darker col-"

"What did the plate say?" he interrupted, eyes narrowing and burning into the road before him. Although it was dusk, you could still make out the way he clenched his teeth together in uncalled for frustration, the angle of his jaw flexing against the black chain earring that dangled from his earlobe. 

"I didn't see it," you admitted, the tension in the car far too uncomfortable. 

Your eyes peeled away from him and to the red and black interior seat. Red LED lighting softly glowed at the base of your foot space, a matching glow emanating from his side as well. Gentler this time, you spoke, "How much did all this cost?"

His grip tightened around the wheel and gear shift, his head dipped slightly lower while his dark, lined eyes focused on the road. 

"Think of it as an investment," he stated roughly, avoiding your question. 

The rest of the car ride was silent.

Once the two of you entered the restaurant, he guided you past the ' _please wait to be seated'_ sign and toward the back wall that showed a brilliant display of the city's lights, much to the waiting staff's confusion. 

"I love the view," Kentaro smiled, his usual kind expression returned to his face while admiring the scenery before settling his gaze on you, hands loosely clasped together under his chin. You nodded, eyes still on the silhouettes decorating the skyline, the twinkling lights of the city reminding you of your midnight drive with Iwaizumi. A waitress briefly came to the table, setting down glasses of water and menus for the both of you.

"How's work?" you asked, nodding toward Kentaro's hands. He saw your gaze and rotated his hands to see the black streaks on the ulnar sides of his wrists, tugging the wrists of his shirt upward to gain better access. 

"It's not too busy right now, but this one car is giving me a hell of a time," he answered, rubbing his index finger into the streaks in an attempt to get rid of them. His hands were rough, slightly calloused due to years of manual labor. Kentaro wasn’t afraid of hard work, and that’s what you admired the most about him.

"Where do you work again?" you embarrassedly asked. It seemed like you asked him this same question just about every time his job came up.

"Midori Seibi," he stated, flashing a teasing grin without looking at you, "the same place since high school."

"Midori Seibi," you repeated after him, nodding to yourself. You'd remember it this time. 

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna wash up," Kentaro said, prying his hands and eyes from the charcoal streaks on his forearms and rising from his seat before making his way to the restroom. 

The waitress returned shortly afterward, and you ordered for yourself as well as Kentaro, deciding to get him his usual dish. While she scribbled down your order, you reached into your wallet and handed your plastic card to her. 

"You can put everything on one bill," you chimed, card still in hand.

"Oh, the guy that was here just gave me his card, and he's very insistent. I'm gonna get these orders in for you," she smiled, waving the notepad and briskly walking away toward the kitchen. You placed your card back into your wallet.

_Damn, he's fast._

"Don't worry about it," Kentaro voiced from behind, startling you. 

"You paid last time," you said, pouting as he sat in his seat.

"I'm just taking care of you," he clarified. You gazed at your childhood friend, wondering why anyone would ever think negatively about him. Sure, he was a bit of a delinquent back then, but deep down under that hard shell of his has always been a heart as golden as his eyes. 

Before you moved away in the summer between middle and high school, the two of you were neighbors, spending the majority of your early childhood together. Although you were always in the same year during school, you always saw him as a little brother. When you found out he was being bullied in primary school for being one of the shortest in his class, you sat him down in the middle of your living room and made him close his eyes. Carefully, you drew around his eyelids with your mom's cheap eyeliner that you stole from her dresser, explaining that your mom always looked way scarier when she wore it. You then led him, his hand in yours, to the park to confront his bullies. With just one look, his bullies never dared to mess with him again. 

You felt yourself smiling, reminiscing in the past. Now here he sat before you, the same darkness outlining his eyes in a far more stylistically pleasant manner. He was now taller, with piercings and dyed hair to complete the look so that nobody would ever mess with him again. You felt proud of him--his growing up had never been easy, but he's proved he could take care of himself as well as his two younger siblings he looked after; so when he stated he would take care of you, you knew he meant it.

"You should have brought Moriko and Teiji," you told him. The waitress returned, setting down the bowls of steamy hot noodles onto the table along with the drinks you ordered.

"They have school tomorrow anyway," he replied, picking up his chopsticks to begin eating.

"How's their tuition? Are you still splitting it with your aunt?" you asked, also beginning to eat.

"Yeah, but Teiji's class trip is coming up, so I'm going to have to take more shifts or something," he said after a mouthful. You always sympathized with Kentaro's position; he never asked to be thrust into a provider's role soon after he graduated high school. But when his dad left and his mom came down with a severe illness, he worked even harder at his job and picked up some other side jobs to make ends meet for the sake of his siblings. 

"How much do you need, Kentaro?" you ask softly. "I just want to help."

He vigorously shook his head, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I don't need it. We don't need it."

You sighed, looking into your now-empty bowl, gazing into your reflection. He's always denied your financial help. As stubborn as he was, he was also an extremely hard worker who did his best to prove a point. Him refusing help was just another example of that.

"Besides," he continued, "Teiji said he's going to start working as soon as he can. So don't worry about it."

You leaned back into your seat as you looked out the window overlooking the city. There wasn't any way you could force him to take the money, but if he just took it, he could have a small break for once in his life. At this point, you were worried he would overwork himself to death. Smiling to yourself, you were thankful you served as some kind of a distraction for him, even if it was for only one night.

"By the way, you got into that internship at your school, right?" he asked. You nodded, turning away from the view and back to him. "Where is it? Just in case I need to drop by for whatever reason."

You gave him verbal directions on how to get to the building from the main entrance to the campus, telling him specific campus landmarks to guide him in the right way. 

"And then from there, you take a left and it's the door all the way down the hall on the right side," you finished. "But you can always call me if you get lost."

He hummed, taking a moment to lightly tap in the directions to your office into his phone. "I think I can figure it out. It doesn't sound too bad."

You giggled at the thought, "Why would you even need to drop by?"

He shrugged. "Maybe I just want to say 'hi'," he replied, chuckling with you. After the waitress returned Kentaro's card, the two of you left the restaurant and began walking back to the car, now in a deserted section of the parking lot. Coming up from the rear end of the car, you discovered a familiar set of white stickers that decorated the back seat windows, one sticker standing out in particular.

_MAD DOG_

"Mad Dog," you read aloud, causing Kentaro to glance at you briefly, watching as you observed the bolded white lettering against the smooth black exterior. "What does that mean?"

"What do you mean? It's just a cool sticker," he answered back nonchalantly, unlocking the car with the push of a button and strolling toward his door.

"I've seen it around," you mentioned, remembering the details of Iwaizumi's car. They were exactly the same: the color, font, size, _everything_ down to the placement of the sticker neatly situated in the rear corner of the passenger side backseat window. "Is it like a brand?"

He looked at you for a while and by the way his eyes slightly narrowed and concentrated on your face, you knew that he was trying to read you. "I guess you could say that." 

The drive back to your apartment was silent, your head filled with questions you sensed Kentaro wouldn't answer, and the white bold lettering ingrained into your memory. He dropped you off at the curb, telling you to text him once you made it inside. With a hug goodbye and promises of plans in the near future, he drove away, the rumbling sounds of the car exhaust echoing into the warm evening air.

You pulled out your phone as you walked into the building, tapping on the screen to scroll through your contacts. With a push of a button, you held your phone to your ear.

"Hello?" 

"Akaashi, what are you doing right now?" you asked, entering the elevator.

"Actually..." he trailed off, the sound of rumbling erupting from the speaker. A crowd's cheers roared from the phone.

"Akaashi?" you called again over the noise.

"I'm at a car meet right now. Why, what did you need?" He asked. 

Your brows furrowed together in confusion. "Why," you sighed, pausing to rub your forehead, "are you at a car meet?" 

"For my article!" Akaashi hissed quietly over the phone. "It's crazy out here, there's so many cars...but I think they're wrapping it up soon--some are leaving." Clicks from his camera could be heard over the call, and you could picture him at the meet, phone balancing between his shoulder and head, his hands propping up his camera close to his face. 

He cursed under his breath, presumably from reviewing blurry pictures. "People are just asking me to take pictures of their cars, how cool is that?" he excitedly announced to you. "I read online that you just go to these-- _click_ \--car meets and then maybe people will get you into a race."

"Akaashi, you're crazy," you breathed out, almost laughing at his ambitious nature.

"It's working, though, because I already-- _click_ \--I just got a contact that would let me know when races would happen," he muttered. "But only races ' _worthwhile'_ , or something."

"Wow, that was fast," you slid your keys into your door, opening it and kicking off your shoes before throwing yourself onto the living room couch.

"People want pictures of their nice cars," he said, shrugging. 

"That's really great for your article," you stated, "but aren't the races illegal? It sounds kind of shady."

"It's illegal, but that's why you're going to come with me," he laughed. "They usually happen pretty late at night, so you shouldn't be doing anything around then, right?"

"Akaashi," you whined.

"I went to that party!" He hissed between his teeth. "You lost me for, like, a whole hour!" Clicking resumed from the other side of the phone.

"Okay, whatever," you muttered. Thinking back to that night, you _did_ kind of abandon him at the party and threw a fit when he wanted to leave. Maybe you owe him this.

"Why'd you call me in the first place?" 

"I don't know, I haven't talked to you in a while." You laughed at the words coming from your mouth. 

He smiled over the phone, "Well, we can talk now."

You told him about your day with Iwaizumi and your evening with your childhood friend, Kentaro. He nods from the other side of the phone at the familiar-sounding names. You explained the events of the dinner carefully, explaining the frustration you felt when Kentaro denied your parent's help yet again. Then, you explained leaving the restaurant.

"Oh, Akaashi, are there any stickers on the cars there?" you asked, interrupting yourself mid-sentence. 

"Um," he voiced, taking a second to look at the cars around him, "yeah, a lot of them have stickers."

"What do they say?"

"You want me to read every single sticker on every car?" he slowly asked, not feeling like walking around the parking lot for the third time that night.

"No--well, do any of them say 'Mad Dog' in white?" you ask. A long pause followed your question, which was presumably the time Akaashi took to inspect the cars in his vicinity. If Kentaro said it was sort of like a brand, then maybe it's popular amongst other cars.

"I don't see any, sorry," he finally announced. "Look, I'm gonna be leaving soon, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

You agreed, ending the call just as the apartment door creaked open. 

“How was practice?” you asked, not looking up while you texted Kentaro, telling him you made it to your room safely. 

“Absolute hell,” Hitoka exasperatedly voiced, setting her duffel bag on the floor next to her shoes. “So many people are getting injured.”

“What kind of injuries?” 

“I guess it’s not too bad, but minor sprains and shoulder stuff,” she shrugged, opening her water bottle. “Sports.”

“Sports,” you echoed, standing up from the couch and trudging over to your room. “Well, take it easy at practice, otherwise you won’t be able to work and pay rent.” 

Nearly choking on water from your snide remark, Hitoka shot you a playful glare. “Shut up, you know you love me here.”

After changing out of your street clothes and brushing your teeth, you turned off the lights and climbed into bed, pulling the weighted sheets over your shoulders. You relaxed into your bed, the soft beddings pulling your exhausted body closer, lulling you to sleep.

\--

The rest of the week was mainly filled with going to class and seeing Iwaizumi at the office every day. You hadn't actually talked to Akaashi in a while, mainly due to him holing himself in his room, researching for his article. You hadn't talked to Kentaro since that night either, presumably because he mentioned he would be taking on extra shifts to pay for his brother's class trip. The last thing he needed was a distraction. 

At the office, you decided to not ask Iwaizumi about his matching sticker with Kentaro. After all, you didn't know the entire story and you didn't want to make assumptions about the both of them. 

"You're early today," Iwaizumi called from behind the counter. Shutting the door behind you, you hummed in acknowledgement. 

"I finish classes early on Fridays." Dropping a plastic bag in front of your coworker, you slung your bag onto the area of the desk next to him.

Iwaizumi looked up from his binder filled with writing, gesturing toward the bag with the tip of his pen, "What's that?"

"Open it," you stated. Hesitantly, he complied and slowly opened the bag, untying the handles to reveal a styrofoam container. The familiar scent immediately revealed what the container's contents were. He paused, looking back at you, the biggest smile you've ever seen on him stretching across his cheeks, green eyes sparkling brilliantly in excitement and surprise. 

"Tofu!" he exclaimed, unclasping the container and inspecting the golden brown squares inside. 

" _Agedashi_ tofu," you corrected, his rush of excitement proving to be influential as your face lit up in animation as well. "I followed that recipe you told me the other day."

"Let's see if it's as good as my mom's, then!" he announced, splitting the wooden chopsticks apart, ready to dig into the snack.

"That was your mom's recipe?" you quickly and self-consciously asked, leaning toward the container to take it back, already feeling the weight of his high expectations. Before you could take the container away, Iwaizumi had already picked up a square of tofu with his chopsticks, his other hand cupped underneath as he dropped it into his mouth. He chewed it quickly, sage-green eyes staring at the ground in concentration as he focused on the flavor and textures of the tofu. Finally, he looked up at you, the same gleaming expression returning to his face.

"That's amazing! I don't know whose is better!" he squealed, setting down the chopsticks to briefly ruffle through his dark hair like he always did when he felt an overwhelming amount of emotion. A smile flashed across your face, amused at his impressed reaction and relief washing over your body. 

"I've been trying to cook more healthy foods for my roommate, so I'll bring some more stuff if we have left overs,” you informed, finally taking your seat next to him.

"Now you're just spoiling me," he smirked, leaning his head backward into his sleeve-covered arm. Your heart fluttered at the sight of him, his muscular arms flush against his left cheek, cocoa-hued hair now messily pressed across the sides of his face. 

"Not just you," you clarified, "I'll make some for other people, too."

"As long as I get some, I'm happy," he stated. You hadn't exactly planned to give him this snack, but when he complained of having cravings of home-cooked meals, you decided to give him some leftovers from last night, much to Hitoka's disappointment.

Thus, your ritual of cooking a plethora of meals for Iwaizumi began. In return, he promised to help you study for any class you needed help with. " _It's the least I can do for an underclassman,"_ he would mock.

Beside the fact that you spent half your day in the office, the internship wasn't nearly as stressful as you had anticipated, much to your relief. In fact, you considered it something to look forward to at the end of each class.

After about three weeks, you were accustomed to the office, alternating between doing paperwork, therapeutic activities and exercises with athletes, and watching various sports games together. Spending every afternoon with Iwaizumi grew more on you than you originally thought, and you two became closer acquaintances. 

You learned to always keep the window blinds open, no matter what, because Iwaizumi had a small obsession with the sky, always snapping a picture of the sunset before leaving the office. Since Iwaizumi always got to the office before you, he would make it a habit to refill the countertop's candy jar that you always snacked on while you worked, making sure to put extra pieces of your favorite kind.

But with the first round of midterms coming up, you were urging Iwaizumi to keep his end of the deal and help you study. He didn't think much of your pestering, often telling you excuses like " _Not today, I have to do something,_ " or " _If you need help with that class, you're just stupid_ ". 

A couple days before your first midterm, you had enough.

"You can't just cut me off like that!" Iwaizumi shouted in a hushed tone so as to not alert the rest of the office. 

You hissed back in a whisper, "If you're not going to help me, I'm not going to feed you!"

Iwaizumi's body slunk limply next to you, his head between his arms on the shared desk, hands ruffling his hair in frustration. As a leg anxiously bounced up and down, his jaw matched its movements, furiously chewing cinnamon gum between his teeth. 

"When?" he asked lowly, ceasing all his movements to hear your response.

"Tonight," you answered.

" _Tonight?_ " he hissed, repeating your words as he whipped up to look at you again. "I have plans tonight."

"Of course you do," you scoffed. You were sick of him always brushing you off, promising to help you when his schedule allowed it. Although you had been preparing for your midterm by yourself, you couldn't help but think of all the tips Iwaizumi boasted of knowing, not to mention the study guides he used to pass his classes. But with just a few days before the midterm, you didn't have time for any more of his excuses.

"No, this is _really_ important," he pleaded with you, his olive eyes set in seriousness. 

"What is it, then?"

He stayed silent for just a second too long, enough time for you to register that he was probably racking his brain thinking of another excuse. 

"Famil-" he started, cut off by your sudden motion as you quickly stood up. 

You huffed exasperatedly, bending to pick up your bag from the floor. The familiar golden rays of sunset were streaking in through the open window; it was nearly closing time and you needed as much study time as possible--with our without his help. 

He ran his fingers through his dark hair again, groaning in frustration, "Wait, wait, I'm sorry." 

"It's fine if you have family stuff," you said, frustration melting away as you were taken aback by his apology.

"No, I blew you off all the other times," he replied, green eyes flickering up to meet yours briefly as he began to gather his things. You stood there, unsure of whether to accept his help or to urge him out the door to his own plans. Everything within you wanted to grab his backpack from him, demand that he stop being stubborn and forget about your study plans, but for some reason you didn't stop him. Perhaps out of your own selfish desires or something more, you couldn't.

"Ready to go?" Iwaizumi asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he raised an eyebrow at your distracted daze. 

Before you could answer, a voice quipped from the corridor, "Leaving already?"

You and Iwaizumi whirled around toward the voice to see Ukai briskly walking down the hallway, papers in hand and a pen resting behind his ear. Neither of you realized he hadn't taken his leave for the day yet, as he was usually gone by this hour.

"It's almost time to lock up," Iwaizumi stated matter-of-factly, glancing at the digital clock on the wall. Ukai didn't respond, but instead stood there looking back between you and Iwaizumi with arms crossed over his chest. His face was stoic and unreadable, set with slightly furrowed brows and a small frown as he looked between the two interns before him for an uncomfortable length of time, the tension growing with every second. 

His eyes finally settled onto Iwaizumi. 

"Iwaizumi," he started, voice low and serious, "did you go over the office policies with Y/N?"

"I mentioned it before, but--"

He was cut off by Ukai breezing past him, hand sliding over the binders that sat upon a dusty bookshelf in the reception area. Locating a thick blue binder, he slipped it out from its place, dusting off the front cover with his hand before pushing it into your chest.

"I suggest you read it as soon as you can," Ukai asserted, brown eyes staring into your own before peeling away to look at Iwaizumi, "both of you should review it." 

You gripped the binder between your hands, the sheer weight of it nearly making you stumble forward. Ukai had already begun to walk back to his office down the corridor as Iwaizumi called out to him.

"Do you need help with anything else?"

Ukai replied from down the hall, "No, you guys can get going. It's after-hours."

Iwaizumi looked at you, shrugging at Ukai's response before gesturing his head toward the door. As the two of you walked out the building, the familiar humidity of the outdoors fanned against your face as the vibrant, soft golden rays illuminated the campus. Once outside, you stopped in your tracks, causing Iwaizumi to also follow suit.

“Where’d you park?” you hurriedly asked, anxiously looking up at him.

Iwaizumi, taken aback at your question and boldness, responded, “Uh, I don’t drive to campus.”

“But you have a car...” you trailed off.

“There’s never parking, so I usually take the bus. It’s free, anyway.”

You nodded and didn't waste time to lead the way back to your apartment, sneakers eagerly padding across the stone walkway as Iwaizumi followed closely behind. Glancing over your shoulder to look at him, you saw his figure holding his phone toward the glowing sky in one hand, his other hand plunged into his pants pocket. His eyes were widened ever so slightly in amusement at the seemingly identical sunset that graced over the campus for the past couple of weeks, tanned skin radiating warmth that perfectly matched the sight of the horizon, lips ajar and curled upward to reveal the slightest bit of his teeth in an amazed trance.

"You take a picture of the sunset almost every day," you stated out to him, an observation that you always thought was peculiar.

"Crappy-kawa gets homesick a lot, so I just like to rub it in," he responded, sending the photo to his friend with a tap of his thumb. You smiled secretly to yourself, mentally concluding that Iwaizumi enjoys the sunsets just as much, if not more than his best friend. 

Once you opened the door to your apartment and turned on the living room lamp, Iwaizumi was quick to make himself at home, dropping his backpack to the ground with a loud thud and immediately sitting on the sofa. As he waited for you to unpack your bag and set the large blue binder down on the coffee table, his eyes analyzed the room again, taking in a more detailed observation than the last time he was here. 

"This is a nice place," he voiced, probably just to break the silence. "How's the rent?"

"It's manageable since my roommate and I split it," you replied. He asked about the whereabouts of your roommate, to which you explained that Hitoka was on an overnight trip for a practice game. "Do you live nearby?"

"No, I'm actually in the opposite direction," he chuckled, pointing in the direction past the university campus. 

"How are you paying for your apartment? There's no way the internship pays enough for rent,” you said, stepping away from the living room and fetching snacks and drinks from the kitchen.

"My parents paid for it,” he shrugged, resting two elbow on his knees. “It was the deal if I went to a university.”

“Wow, someone’s a little spoiled, aren’t they?” you chimed, eyebrows rising in surprise as you set the food down.

“I’d have to pay them back if I graduate late,” he defended, shooting you a glare. “So I work my ass off to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Anything could happen in your last year,” you said absent-mindedly, loudly popping a can open.

“Last term,” he clarified.

Surprised at his response, you looked over to him through the corner of your eye mid-drink. “Last _term_? You’re graduating early?”

He laughed lightly at your reaction, “What, you didn’t think I was as ambitious as you? I’m so sick of school already.”

“I mean, you don’t strike me as the type who would try to graduate early,” you responded, setting your laptop, textbooks, and notes onto the coffee table and sitting on the ground, your back pressed against the couch frame. He didn’t say anything back for a while, so you nudged his leg that was hanging off the edge.

"Can you get your study guide out?"

He groaned, lazily slinking down to the ground next to you before unzipping his backpack open to fetch a worn folder overflowing with papers, lightly tossing the item onto the table with a _smack_. 

"You had this in your bag this whole time?" You whined, taking the folder from his hands and opening it to find it full of study guides, notes, and test materials.

"I've been meaning to give it to you for the past couple of days, but I always forgot," he said apologetically, shooting you a small smile. "When is your exam, anyway?"

"It's at 10am, but I'm planning to meet Akaashi for breakfast before then," you said, studying the folder's contents. "So I probably have to wake up at 7, maybe?"

"So early," Iwaizumi complained, stretching his arms into a yawn. He looked at you for a bit as your fingers busily typed on your laptop while referencing his over a year-old notes. It wasn't until about half an hour had passed that you realized Iwaizumi could have just given you this folder and went home; he really had no other reason to be here, other than the promise of food.

"There's curry in the fridge if you're hungry," you offered, uncomfortable with him watching you.

Once those words left your mouth, he shot up from your side instantly, briskly speeding out of your room and into the kitchen to collect his reward, excitedly popping it into the microwave. You hadn't paid his absence any mind, so you were surprised to see that he brought back two portions of the curry, carefully setting one of the containers next to you.

"I'm not hungry right now," you said, looking up to him as he nudged the meal toward you.

"Eat. I made it for you," he replied, sitting back down in his spot.

"You mean _I_ made it," you corrected.

He snapped back in the same tone, " _I_ warmed it up!"

You begrudgingly took up the container of curry--it would be a waste to let it get cold. As you two ate, Iwaizumi surprisingly became more active in his part, instructing you to focus on specific topics that he remembered were major themes of the exam. In between mouthfuls, the two of you would communicate, you asking for clarification on a concept and Iwaizumi explaining it to the best of his ability. This practice was in no way something he thought he would ever be doing, but he tried his best to remember the information from a whole year ago. 

Hours passed of studying, the once amber-red sky quickly darkening into blackness of the late night. Although you briefly left the room to take a quick shower, you hadn't taken much of a break from your studying, consistently focused on asking Iwaizumi anything that came to mind concerning the exam. While you were still wide awake taking the mock exam and quizzes for the nth time, Iwaizumi was all but knocked out from exhaustion, sprawled on the paper-littered floor beside you. One arm resting over his eyes and the other draped over his abdomen, he was barely muttering out responses to your incessant questions. 

"What time is it?" he murmured in a raspy voice. You paused from reviewing your notes to glance at your phone, eyes widening at the sight.

"It's almost 1," you gasped, "Don't you have to take the bus?"

He rubbed his face sleepily before lazily rolling onto his side to face you, muttering lowly "If it's almost 1, the buses stopped running already."

Your stomach sank at his words. "Do you have any classes tomorrow?" you asked. 

He hummed in negativity, "Mm-mm."

You sat in silence, pondering his response and deciding what the best step would be. Call a taxi? 

"I'm gonna shower," Iwaizumi erupted suddenly, picking himself off the floor. You didn't have time to respond or question his statement as he continued, "can I borrow a towel?"

You blinked. What? 

Not waiting for your response, he was already rummaging through the bathroom, opening the storage door to the small supply of towels. He draped a gray towel over his neck and re-entered the living room to grab his phone and backpack from the ground before closing the bathroom door behind him.

It wasn't until well after he disappeared into the bathroom that you registered what happened. You leapt to your feet, ready to chase him down and urge that you could call him a taxi and that you'd even pay for the fare when a glance at your desk stopped you in your tracks. The thick, blue binder from the office that Ukai had thrusted into your arms was sitting there, untouched since you first arrived. Ukai was right about reviewing the handbook; Iwaizumi had mentioned there being office policies that he said Ukai was very strict about, but he never elaborated as to what they were. 

Hand gliding over the front cover, you opened the dusty binder to the first of seemingly hundreds of pages. You flipped through the first couple of pages of acknowledgements and general information, stopping on the page of the table of contents. Skimming over the page, you located the page number to the office's policies, quickly turning the sheets to the appropriate entry. Finger gliding down each topic printed across the sheet, you silently read the words plastered across the page.

 _"Anti-Harassment Plan, Attendance and Punctuality, Compensation,"_ your eyes glossed over the topics, " _Dispute Resolution, Drugs and Alcohol, Emergency Preparedness, End of Employment, Hours of Work, Direct Deposits, Reduction in Force,"_ your eyes stopped on one particular topic that made your heart flutter.

"Relationships in the Workplace _,"_ you read aloud, just above a whisper. The explanation to the topic was simple and upfront, yet only certain phrases stuck out to you. You continued to read, once again skimming over the lines silently to yourself, "...must not interfere with work ethic," "...must be reported to the next level of administration...", "...should not raise questions of favoritism."

You turned the page, only to find the next one blank. You returned to the topic, leaning back into your chair as you sighed in relief.

The sudden sound of your room door opening jolted you to your feet and you closed the binder and hastily looked up to see Iwaizumi, now dressed in dark gray joggers and a white t-shirt poking through the neck space of his gray hoodie that you didn't realize he grabbed from your desk from that time he let you wear it. He slipped past you, the familiar scent of your own bath products wafting toward you, indicating he helped himself to whatever was in your and Hitoka's shower. 

His dark brown hair was slightly damp and hung over his forehead longer than usual, curtaining past his brows and nearly covering his tired green eyes. He looked softer than usual, his daily appearance at the office infinitely more intimidating than this sleepy figure sitting in front of you, perhaps because it was late at night or maybe because he was dressed in incredibly comfortable clothes, but regardless there was a certain aura around him that seemed warm and desperate to pull you in. Tired and now droopy-eyed, you inched closer to him, eager to feel warmth.

"I need a toothbrush," he said, looking at you from beneath his bangs before pushing them upward with the palm of his hand. You blinked rapidly, processing his response as you motioned for him to follow you to your bathroom. At the sink's drawers, you shuffled around the clutter that would have otherwise been embarrassing had you not been so tired right now. Eventually, you produced an extra tooth brush to Iwaizumi, who quietly took it. 

The two of you brushed your teeth separately, you allowing Iwaizumi to go first and then you following soon afterward. When you stepped back into the main area, you were surprised to see him still awake and sprawled on the floor, reading through his old notes. You returned to your place next to him on the floor, sleepily leaning your head back against the bed frame and closing your eyes. Neither of you spoke for a great length of time but enjoyed the silence together, listening to the wind rustling through the trees outside and the distant buzzing of the hallway lights. Tired and content with the hours of late night studying, you slowly fell into sleep. 

At first, Iwaizumi didn't realize you had fallen asleep. It was when you changed positions from sitting up to laying down onto the floor next to him that he noticed your exhaustion. As much as he didn't want to watch you sleep because he felt like a total creep doing so, he couldn't help but feel at least partially guilty for your fatigue; after all, you would have gotten better sleep if he had actually kept his end of the promise and helped you study when you first asked. He stood up to collect your soft blanket from your bedroom and gently place it around your sleeping figure, carefully pulling the top of the blanket to your chin before turning off your lamp. He then laid down on the floor with you, at a distance that he deemed respectable. 

Next time, he promised himself he would keep his end of the deal, no matter what.


End file.
